TRAVEL: The alternative side of London with gangster tour of the capital

TRAVEL: The alternative side of London with gangster tour of the capital

STANDING by the kerb, a menacing figure strokes the knuckleduster on his tattooed left hand, his eyebrows furrowing as he glances in my direction.

“You lookin’ fer me?” he asked in a low, gravelly voice.

Under any other circumstances, I’d quickly scuttle away, but today this hard-nosed mobster is the very person I’ve planned to meet. My path to Mickey Goldtooth had been paved some 48 hours earlier, when – like something out of John le Carre novel – an email instructed me to present myself at 10am on a street corner in London’s Liverpool Street and look for the man with a black suit and gold teeth.

The ‘top secret dossier’ is all part of Mystery Days, masterminded by city break specialists MakeMyDay. I’d signed up to the service with no idea what to expect.

“It’s rare as adults to be truly surprised. I want to inject that childlike sense of fun and exploration back into peoples’ lives, while also offering urban adventures most people don’t even know are possible.”

Packages start from £69 and the options are impressive – everything from walking, cycling and food tours, to helicopter trips and even penny farthing tours.

I’ve opted for the ‘silver’ package, and after completing a short questionnaire on my likes and dislikes, any health considerations, physical limitations and phobias, it’s time to expect the unexpected. My first urban adventure is a mobster tour of the East End, led by two real life gangsters, including Mickey. Together, we tour the streets of Bethnal Green and Whitechapel and enter a world few see.

Over a drink in The Blind Beggar pub, where Ronnie Kray famously murdered George Cornell in 1966, Mickey rummages in his pocket and produces a frayed black and white picture.

“That’s me, that is,” he said, pointing proudly to the toddler sat on the knee of Ronnie Kray.

What follows is two fascinating and, at times, hilarious hours filled with tales of London’s murky underworld.

It certainly gives me a lot to think about as I make my way to the next mysterious appointment. The instructions in the dossier are a little baffling, simply telling me to head to Victoria Coach Station.

But it soon becomes clear. While weary travellers around me battle with suitcases to board National Express coaches, I breeze through and hop aboard an original red Routemaster bus.

These iconic double-deckers first took to the streets of London in the 1950s, and now only a handful continue to operate. But this isn’t just any old bus ride. Somewhere along Buckingham Palace Road, my city tour with a difference takes a rather indulgent turn as champagne afternoon tea is served. Sat on the top deck, with London’s most famous landmarks on show in all their glory, I nibble on delicate sandwiches and sweet macaroons, all washed down with flutes filled with bubbles.

Fortunately, my final surprise of the day provides an opportunity to walk off some of the excess. A short tube ride takes me to St Paul’s, where a small group has gathered by the turnstiles. I gingerly join them, intrigued as to what the next mini adventure will entail.

“You are about to discover the best, most beautiful, historic and cosy pubs this great city has to offer,” announces Vic, a man who has suffered greatly for his art by drinking in more than 40 nearby establishments, in order to select the best five.

With real theatrical flair, Vic brings the past vividly to life as we stroll between gin palaces and blink-and-miss-them Victorian pubs, which could almost be lifted straight out of a Dickens book.

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